Couple Trouble
by neptune139224
Summary: Nancy Drew is bored in River Heights. At least until she is called up bye Frank and Joe Hardy and whisked away to a Couples resort in florida to investigate a murder. A Story Full of mystery, betrayal and love.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Nancy drew and her friends Bess and George were eating at a diner after school.

"So how's Ned, Nancy? We haven't seen him around lately." George Fayne asked Nancy as she looked at her menu. She brushed some of her dark curly hair behind her ear as she looked at Nancy.

"Oh he's fine. He's just been busy with his work at the news paper." she looked at her two friends and thought about how completely different they were. Bess and George were cousins but that's where the similarity stopped. Bess had long blonde hair and blue eyes and loved shopping, boys and fashion. George on the other hand had dark curly hair and was totally athletic. She loved to run and play pretty much any sport.

"So you guys are okay?" asked Bess.

Nancy gave her a quizzical look. "Yes why wouldn't we be?"

"Oh no reason its just the me and George thought. . . " she trailed off.

"Hey why are you including me in this I never said that!" George told her cousin.

"yeah but you were thinking it." Bess told her with an innocent smile. George just rolled her eyes and smiled.

After they ordered and got their food George asked if Nancy was working on any new cases. "No actually." she said, "its been strange, nothing has happened. No burglaries, kidnappings, threatening letters. Life has become totally boring."

"Isn't the fact that nothing bad has been happening a good thing? And I thought that you loved getting relaxation time?" she said.

"I usually do, but its been so long since I've had a good mystery that isn't happening in a book." Besides solving mysteries, Nancy also loved to read mystery books.

"just think of it as the calm before the storm." Bess suggested. Just then Nancy's cell phone rang and she got it out of her purse.

"speaking of mysteries, guess who's calling?" Nancy asked the girls.

"hmm. . . could it possibly be Bayport's favorite detectives Frank and Joe Hardy?" George said jokingly.

"As a matter of fact yes." she said laughing at George.

"Oh tell Joe I said Hi!" Bess told Nancy as she answered the phone. George just rolled her eyes, it was no secret that Bess and the younger hardy brother Joe had a thing for each other.

"Hey Hardy! What's up?"

"Hey Nancy! As much as I would like to say that I just called to talk, I, or Joe and I, need your help on a case." Frank answered.

"Really! That's great! Oh bye the way, tell Joe that Bess says hi." Nancy said.

"I'll tell him. I didn't know that you would be so enthusiastic about helping out." He replied.

"Well not only do I get to work with to great detectives, but there are no mysteries here and I am so bored!"

Frank laughed and said, "Well, we're on our way to River Heights, so we'll meet at your house and tell you about the case. Okay?"

"Perfect. See you there in. . ." she trailed off realizing that she had no idea where they were.

"About an hour." Frank replied. Then they said good bye and hung up.

* * *

"So what was that about?" Bess asked after Nancy had hung up her cell phone and was putting it back in her purse.

"Frank and Joe need help solving a case and they want me to help!" Nancy said unable to hide her excitement.

"Really? What's the case about?" George asked.

"Um. . . well I'm not really sure about that. They said that they were on their way to River Heights and that they would meet me at my house in about an hour." she said. "You guys are welcome to come along if you want."

"Really? Cool! I wonder if we could help?" Bess wondered.

"Bess, do you really want to help or do you just want to be around Joe?" George teased her cousin.

Bess threw a fry at her. "I want to help."

"Sure." George said as she and Nancy started laughing.

"Nancy! Your not supposed to help her gang up on me!" Bess squealed.

"I'm sorry Bess, but you can't say that you don't want to see Joe." Nancy said.

Bess blushed, "Okay, so I want to see Joe."

They all laughed then finished their meal and went back to Nancy house. When they arrived it was almost time for the boys to get there. Nancy went in and said hello to Hannah, her housekeeper, and her father. She told her father that the boys were going to come over and about the mystery.

"Good. you've been moping around here with nothing to do lately." he told her. She rolled her eyes and ran down stairs as she heard the doorbell ring. As she went down stairs she heard George, Bess, Frank and Joe all talking in the living room.

"Hey Hardys!" she said as she walked into the room.

"Hey Nancy." they said in unison then they got up and hugged her.

"So what's the scoop on the case boys?" she asked as soon as they had all sat down.

"Well in Daytona, Florida there is a couples get away resort. Last week two newly weds were murdered there. A friend of our fathers knows someone who works there and gave them our number and they want us to come and investigate, but only couples are aloud there and that's where you come in." Fred looked at Nancy and Bess. "We figured that Nancy could play my girlfriend and-"

"Bess could be mine." Joe finished.

"Okay." Bess said. Nancy laughed and nodded.

"Great! So now we have a plan. We're going to leave tomorrow on the 1:30 afternoon flight and we have to drive to the airport so I think that we will leave about 9 A.M. tomorrow. okay?"

"Nine in the morning? ugh." Bess groaned.

"Cheer up Bess, at least you get to go." George said.

"Sorry George but don't you have that soccer game this week?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. Its in two days, so I guess that'll be good. Its the last big game before the tournament, but that means I have to spend spring break here all by myself!"

"I'm sorry George, but it probably won't take the whole spring break. We'll be back before you know it!" Bess said.

"Yeah okay." George said. then looked at her watch. "Oh my gosh I have to go or I'll be late for soccer practice!" George picked up her stuff and ran towards the door. "Come on Bess!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she said getting up from her spot on the floor and walking to the door. "Bye guys I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah bye!" George said pulling Bess out the door.

"well I guess we better get going. We'll see you tomorrow, bright and early okay?" Frank said.

"Frank can't we just leave tonight and get a hotel there so we don't have to get up tomorrow?" Joe asked.

Frank rolled his eyes then smiled at Nancy. "See ya in the morning."

Nancy laughed and told them good bye. Then she went up to her room.

* * *

A couple hours later Nancy was on the phone talking to Ned and telling him about the case. "I don't like it Nancy."

"What don't you like?" Nancy asked him.

"Your going to go away to a romantic place with another guy!" Ned practically yelled in to the phone.

"Ned its on business its not like I'm going because I'm in love with Frank."

"Yeah well I don't understand why I can't just go and George play Franks girlfriend and you mine!"

"Because Ned the resort is only paying for four people to go and besides George is busy!" Nancy told him.

Ned sighed. "Yeah I guess."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Look I gotta finish packing. I'll call you when I get to Florida tomorrow. Kay?"

"Yeah Nancy. I love you. Bye"

"I love you too. Bye." They hung up and Nancy finished packing, then sighed laying down on her bed. She new that she was getting tired of Ned's jealousy problem. Sometimes she thought it was sweet how protective of her he was, but other times it was just annoying. Like with the whole Frank thing, Ned should have known that Nancy wouldn't cheat on him, not purposely anyway, the thing in eygpt was just a spur of the moment thing.

She got up and changed into her pajamas, then set her alarm, turned off the lights and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not Own Nancy Drew. I wish I did because since millions of people like these books they are probably rich but I don't

p.s. I haven't read many of the super mysteries so I don't know if frank and Cassie are still dating so if they aren't just go along with it.

The next morning, Nancy woke up when her alarm went off. She hit the sleep alarm then rolled over and groaned, it was to early to be getting up on Saturday. After laying on her stomach for a few minutes, Nancy got up, turned her alarm off and got dressed. As she left her room to put her suitcase by the door she could smell Hannah's cooking. Hannah had been there house keeper/cook since Nancy's mother had died.

"Mmmmm Hannah what are you cooking?" Nancy asked as she breathed deep to smell the great food.

"Well lets see, I have a cheese omelet for you here and I have biscuits in the oven, so you and your friends can eat them when you get here. Oh I also have coffee brewing."

"Hannah your the best." Nancy said as Hannah put a plate and coffee mug in front of her. "But I'm not sure that Joe and Bess will Actually be a wake enough to eat."

Hannah smiled at Nancy. "I hope that you have a wonderful time in Florida dear."

"Oh I will. I have been itching for another case to solve so I can't wait."

Hannah smiled and rolled her eyes, "Honey, I meant relaxation time as fun, not figured out who murdered someone who murdered someone fun. This is your spring break you know"

"I know Hannah and I promise that I will have fun." She took a big bight of her omelet and then said, "Right after I figure out who murdered that couple."

Hannah laughed and shook her head at Nancy. Nancy finished her omelet, and as Hannah was pulling the biscuits out of the over the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" she hollered. She went and opened it to see Frank and Joe, who was half asleep, standing there. "Hey guys." she said.

"Hey Nancy." Frank said, then grabbed her suitcase and went to put it in the trunk of his car.

"Hey Nanaww" Joe yawned.

"You want some Coffee and biscuits? They're fresh out of the oven." Nancy asked and Joe nodded. Frank followed them after he came up the steps to her house. When they got to the kitchen, Nancy saw that Hannah already had two plates and mugs of coffee out for the boys.

They sat down and started eating and Nancy refilled her coffee cup. "Where is she? We should be leaving soon." Frank said after a few minutes.

"Oh you know Bess. She's probably triple checking all her stuff to make sure she didn't forget anything." Nancy laughed.

Then they heard a knock at the door. Nancy went to the door to see Bess and George. Frank came up behind Nancy and said hello.

"Hey Frank. Can you get Bess's bags out of the trunk? They're a little heavy." George asked.

"Sure." He smiled then she gave him the keys and he went to her car.

"Sorry we're so late, but Bess kept checking her stuff, and putting clothes in then taking clothes out." George rolled her eyes.

"Well we are going to Florida I wanted to wear the right thing." Bess replied.

"Do you want to have some Breakfast before we leave George?" Nancy asked her as Frank was coming up the steps.

"Sorry Nancy but we have to go if we are going to catch our plane on time," He turned to George and said. "and I'm sorry you can't come."

"Awe its okay! I'm not that great a detective and I'm totally pumped about the soccer game. I'll just go now." George hugged Nancy and Bess then got in her car and left.

"Well lets go." Frank said. Nancy gave Hannah a hug and told her father goodbye (he came down when he smelled the biscuits) and gave him a hug.

Then they all piled into the car. Bess and Joe were in the back seat, Frank was driving and Nancy was in the passengers seat. They had been driving when Nancy turned around and saw that both Joe and Bess were asleep. She turned back around in her seat and started staring out the window.

"Something wrong?" Frank asked her.

"No." she sighed.

"Well that's got me convinced." he laughed. She turned to face him and saw that he was smiling at her, but as soon as he saw he face he stopped smiling. "Seriously what's wrong?"

She turned and faced forward avoiding his eyes. "Oh nothing really its just something that Ned said. He was being a Jerk about this whole thing."

"You mean coming to Florida? Why?" Frank asked, his brow furrowing.

'Because he thinks that I'm going to cheat on him with you' she thought. She didn't want to tell that to Frank so she said. "I don't know, I guess that he just doesn't want me to leave river heights for spring break. he wanted to spend time together." she lied.

"Oh well that's understandable." He nodded then went back to watching the road.

"Didn't you want to spend time with Callie this spring break?" she asked him. Frank and Callie had been dating for a while and they seemed really close.

"Well yeah, but I think that I would rather solve this mystery, but don't tell her that." he replied.

Nancy laughed. "Don't worry Frank. Your secrets safe with me. . . so how long is it going to take to get there."

"Well it will take about two hours and thirty minutes to get to the airport. Then it will take about 3 hours to get to Miami. The guy who called us, Mr. Bristen, will pick us up at the airport and take us to the resort."

"So we are going to get there sometime in the afternoon? Okay the I better call Ned now then."

"Will he be up this early?" Frank asked.

"Yeah he has to work today so he should be up by now." She got out her cell phone and dialed Ned's cell number.

"Hello?" she heard him say.

"Hey what's up?"

"Nancy? Are you in Florida already?" He asked surprised.

"No but we aren't going to be landing until this afternoon, then we have to go check out the scene and then we have to play the couple part so I probably won't have time to talk later today."

"Great." Ned said glumly. "You know I still don't like this whole couple thing."

"I know Ned and you know that nothing will happen, or at least you should!" Nancy said getting angry now. Frank looked at her concerned but she just shook her head.

"I know Nancy. Its not like I don't trust you. Its Frank Hardy that I don't trust."

"Ned!" Nancy said keeping her voice low so not to wake Joe and Bess. "Nothing is going to happen between me and Frank. He's my friend he's not going to try and do anything."

"Wha-" Frank started to say but Nancy put her hand up to silence him.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow Ned. bye."

"Bye." Nancy hung up her phone and put it in her purse without looking at Frank. When she was done she looked at him to find him looking at her. "Okay. Want to the real reason that Ned was being a jerk?" she continued knowing the answer. "He's crazy jealous. he thinks that were going to run off and go get married while we're there or something like that, and I told him that I would never do anything like that to him and that nothings going to happen and he's all 'its not you I don't trust its Frank Hardy!'" Frank sat there looking out the window watching the road in silence for a few minutes. "I'm sorry Frank." Nancy finally said.

He looked at her. "Why? You didn't do anything. You can't help it if your boyfriends jealous. . . but some advice. If you don't want him to be as jealous, lay off the 'we have got to act like a couple' thing. That's probably what's making him so mad."

Nancy thought about that for a minute. She always did kind of have a thing for Frank but Ned was so important to her. Maybe he just thought that she sounded like she liked him. "Your right. Thanks."

"Anytime you need advice, come to me for the inspirational words of Frank Hardy." He grinned at her. She laughed then rolled her eyes.

* * *

After about and hour of driving, Joe and Bess switched spots with Frank and Nancy so they could get some sleep. Nancy stretched out as much as she could, laying her head on the back of the seat. Frank sat thinking about what Nancy had said Ned told her. Did he really come off as the type of guy who would take advantage of being away with Nancy while on a case, or was Ned just being a jealous boyfriend. Frank decided that Ned was just jealous. Of course Frank had feelings for Nancy but he knew that she loved Ned and he respected that. He also had his girlfriend Callie at home and wouldn't do anything to hurt her. 

Nancy had fallen asleep but she moved and her head rested on Franks shoulder after a minute. Frank sighed and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

** I do not Own Nancy Drew.**

* * *

"Come on bags. Where are you?" Bess said. Nancy, Bess, Frank and Joe were all standing by the baggage claim waiting for their luggage. "Oh look Nancy! There's one of your suitcases!" Bess pointed toward a big blue suitcase that was coming toward them.

After about ten minutes they had all gotten there suitcases and headed toward the place where people who had to pick someone up were waiting. "So what does this Bristen guy look like anyway?" Bess asked.

"Um. . . well we're not really sure. We've only ever talked to him on the phone." Joe said.

"Then how are we going to know who he is?" Bess asked. "I mean, you've never seen the guy and he waiting for us to come over to him."

" I'm going to take a wild guess and say that that's him." Nancy answered pointing toward a man wearing a black suit who looked to be in his mid thirties, standing with a sign that said, 'The Hardy's' on it.

Bess smiled. "Good guess Nan." They walked over to the man and Frank introduced them all.

"I'm so glad that you could come. I just got back from the funeral. Come with me and I'll show you toward the van." They all followed him to the van and put there things into the back. Then they climbed into the van.

"So who were the victims?" Joe asked, getting right to work.

"The victims were my sister Missy Brigs and her husband Craig." Mr. Bristen sighed.

"Oh my gosh I'm sorry Mr. Bristen!" Nancy said.

"It will be better when you put her murderer behind bars." Mr. Bristen said.

"I know that this might be hard for you sir," Frank said, "but we need to know more about what happened if we are going to find out who did this."

"Its alright." He said, "The police have already asked me questions, so it will be easier a second time."

"Okay. How was your sister and her husband murdered?" Frank asked.

"My sister and her husband were strangled, the police think that the killer used the electrical cord of the telephone next to their bed."

"Who found the bodies?" Nancy asked.

Mr. Bristen looked at her for a minute then said, "One of our housekeepers, Rosa, found them. She was going around cleaning the rooms and she went into their room to clean when she saw the bodies." They all stayed quiet for a minute then Mr. Bristen said, "Thank you for taking this case. I don't want it going around that I have hired private investigators so make sure that you stay undercover at all times. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." they all said. They drove the rest of the way in silence until they saw a big, beautiful hotel.

"Oh my gosh!" Bess said. "Is that where we're staying???"

Mr. Bristen smiled at her. "Yes ma'am it is."

The car stopped in the front parking lot and let them out. As soon as they were completely out of the car the bellhops came and took their bags and led them inside. "A girl could get used to this." Bess whispered to Nancy looking around. Nancy had to agree. The front lobby was gorgeous! To the right as they walked in there was a huge check-in table and to the left was a restaurant. In the middle of the room there was a red carpet and the rest of the floor was tile. Most of the walls were a whitish/cream color, and two enormous black staircases went up to the second floor, and one to the bottom floor in the far end of the room. A chandelier hung above the stair cases, on a golden ceiling. It was defiantly beautiful.

The boys went to pick up there rooms and Nancy just stood there looking around. "Beautiful isn't it?"

Nancy stopped looking around to turn to the person who had talked to her. She saw a man in his late forties that was dressed in a dark blazer and dark jeans. "Yes it certainly is."

Just then Mr. Bristen came in. He looked around and saw who she was talking to and stormed over. His face was red when he said, "What are you doing here?"

The mans face went cold. "Well I told you that I would collect my money one way or another."

"I can't believe this. My sister just died and your talking about money?" Mr. Bristen huffed.

"Well your sister owed me a lot. I told her that bad things would happen if I didn't get my money." Obviously he had forgotten that Nancy was standing next to him. He looked over at me and smiled again. "My name is John Fregan, if you need anything while you are here please give me a call."

"Um. . . okay." Nancy said hesitantly. He handed her a business card with his cell phone number, email address and company address. Then he turned and walked away. She looked back to where Mr. Bristen had been but he had already left. Then she saw that Frank was walking toward her.

"What was that about?" he said when he reached her side. Nancy retold him the story of what Mr. Bristen and the mysterious Mr. Fregan had said. "Well Nancy I think we may have our first suspect." Nancy agreed.

"So what all is there to do here?" Bess asked as Joe and her walked up. "And what all are we going to be doing while were undercover."

"Well we have to get a copy of everyone staying in the resort when the couple was murdered. Then we are going to try to get close to them and see if they seem suspicious, but first lets go see our rooms." Nancy said. They walked up the grand staircase to find there rooms. Both of the rooms were next to each other, rooms 228 and 230. Both had two twin beds and a 24 inch TV. Nancy and Bess went into the bathroom and saw that they had a Jacuzzi tub and a lighted mirror with a huge sink.

"Wow! This is awesome!" Bess yelled excitedly. "I wish my house had this!"

Nancy laughed at her friend. "Come on. We are gonna meet the boys in a little while so we have to get ready." Both girls changed into cooler clothes. Nancy put on a light blue tank top and kaki Capri's. Bess changed into a white short sleeved shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts. "We should go to the beach." Bess said grabbing a red bikini out of one of her suitcases.

"Bess we are going to go over case details, remember we are here on a job."

"Well we can Talk things over at the beach." Bess said as she opened Nancy's suitcase and pulled out a black bikini that Nancy had packed. "Then again, Frank might not be able to concentrate if he sees you in this."

"BESS!" Nancy yelled blushing. She grabbed her bathing suit out of Bess's hands and glared at her.

Bess smiled sheepishly. "I was only kidding Nan. I'll call the boys and see if its okay with them." She picked up her cell phone and called Joe's cell. After talking for a minute she hung up and said, "It's okay with them!" They put there suits on under there clothes then went to meet the boys.

* * *

They met the boys at the beach and Joe Had the lists of guests. Nancy was looking at the list when she recognized a name. "Hey this is the name of that man who I met when we came in!" She said. "The Fregans room 115. He said some pretty suspicious things when talking to Mr. Bristen. He sounded pretty threatening. It could have been him."

She filled in Bess and Joe about what had been said. "Man your right Nance." Joe said. They looked over the rest of the list and what activities people were going to attend.

"I'll follow the girls going to the spa!" Bess said. They all got a good laugh out of that. They decided who would do what when so they could find out what these people were doing at the time when the Brigs were murdered. After they had decided everything they all went swimming for a while then they went up to their rooms exhausted and went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not Own Nancy Drew. **

I finally got the Secrets of the nile book! I luved it!!! I'm sorry that I haven't been updating but schools been hectic so I'll prolbably only be able to update on the weekends.

* * *

Nancy woke up when her alarm went off. She looked around, a little confused. Then she remembered that she was on a case in Florida. She got up and got a shower, and then after she was dressed she went and woke up Bess. 

"Come on Bess! You need to get up. You have to work really hard today." Nancy said sarcastically. Bess sat up and rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes!" she said dramatically, "You and me, getting facials, seaweed wraps and talking to people. Maybe afterwards we can go shopping and make the day even worse."

Nancy laughed at her friend. "Sorry Bess. We can't. We are going to that meeting thing that they have at the beginning of each week. That way we can get to know the couples that are here." At the beginning of each week, the resort had a sort meeting. This helped people meet other couples and it gave everyone a chance to hear about and sign up for activities that the resort held. Nancy and the Hardys decided that this could be very helpful to the investigation. First, they would talk to the couples at the meeting to see if any of them seemed suspicious, then they would sign up for activities that those couples had chosen.

Today while Nancy and Bess we're talking with women in the spa, the boys were going to go to the gym and see if they could get to know some of the guys that we're on the suspects list. So far, the list contained of all the couples and staff that were at the resort at the time of the Brigg's murder. Today they were going to try to narrow down the list and later they were going to talk to Mr. Bristen to see if they could figure out why any one would want them dead. Nancy still felt bad about talking to Bristen about his sister and brother-in-law's death.

Nancy thought about this while Bess was getting ready for their day at the spa. Mr. Bristen never seemed very upset about talking about it, she found that suspicious. Of course, he could have just been hiding what he felt but she still thought that they should keep an eye on him.

Bess walked out of the bathroom ready to go. They headed down stairs to the resort restaurant to meet the boys for breakfast.

When they got to the restaurant, they saw the boys waiting for them. Nancy went over to sit down next to frank and said, "Hey honey."

He smiled and took her hand. Joe looked at Bess and smiled at her as she sat down. "So are you excited about today???" he asked.

"No actually me and Nancy were just talking about what a drag its going to be." Bess said grinning at Nancy. Nancy just laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" some one said from behind Nancy and Frank. They turned around to see a couple of old ladies smiling at them. "Aren't yall just the cutest couples! Yall are just so adorable!" The others nodded in agreement. The lady sounded like she was Texas.

Frank and Nancy smiled at the old woman. "Thank you." Frank said. Nancy could tell he was trying not to laugh. "Um. . . Not to sound rude but who are you?"

"Oh how rude of me! I'm Doreen Wilcox."

"I'm Frank and this is my girlfriend Nancy, my brother Joe and his girl Bess." Nancy saw Bess blush out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you to darlin. I'm sorry but I gotta go. Bye!" She and the other women left.

"Well, that was interesting." Bess said.

"Yeah it was little strange." Nancy agreed laughing. Frank looked at her but she pretended not to notice. "I'm starving. Lets order." A waiter came over to their table and took their orders then left. He came back with their food and they ate while descussing the case and then randomly switching subject when someone would come in to hearing range. At the end or their very confusing conversation, they all walked out of the restaurant together and ran into John Fregan.

"Aw Nancy. Nice to see you again." He said. There was a woman by his side who looked a few years younger than him. She had dyed red hair and a bunch of rings on her fingers, she was short and chubby with very light skin. "This is my wife Stacy."

"Hello. It's nice to meet you." Nancy said. "This is my boyfriend Frank, his brother Joe and my best friend Bess." Frank and Mr. Fregan shook hands and then he kissed her and him and Joe went to the gym.

"Are you going in to eat?" Mrs. Fregan asked us.

"No. Bess and I are actually just leaving to go to the spa. We just ate with our boyfriends and now we're headed to the spa."

"Oh really? Well maybe I will see you there later. Thats where I'm going to be." She turned to her husband. "I've got to look good for our boat ride tomorrow."

"Boat ride?" Bess asked.

"Yes, Stacy and I are going on the romantic ocean cruise tomorrow that is held by the resort. We go every year. It's wonderful." HE smiled.

"Really? Maybe we'll check it out. Come on Bess, we have to go." Nancy waved at the couple as she and Bess walked away.

"He seemed nice enough." Bess said.

"Yeah he did seem nicer today, but I still can't shake what happened yesterday." Nancy said. "Maybe we'll follow them on that cruise tomorrow." Nancy said as they reached the spa doors. "We'll talk to the boys later and see if they want to go."

* * *

While Nancy and Bess were getting to know the wemon at the spa, Frank and Joe had met some of the men on their list of suspects. They were working out and talking to the men at the same time. "So are you liking your stay for far? My girlfriend loves it here." a guy named Tyler asked Frank. Frank was lifting the barbells and Tyler was spotting him. He was a college student in Michigan and he and his girlfriend were here for spring break. He was a big football player, with tan skin and dark hair. "I brought her because we were starting to have probs and I thought that a get away might be the cure." 

Frank kept lifting as he replied. "Yeah, she thinks its beautiful here. We haven't had much time together recently because shes been studying to much so this is just a vacation." Frank lied.

"Man lucky you. My girl is just becoming a bother." H paused and helped Frank put the barbells back on the supports. Then he put a few more weights on the bar as Frank got up to spot him.

"So have you heard about what happened last week?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, of course. It's not every day that a girl gets axed. I mean its mostly the same people here as there were last week because the cops told people not to leave and most people cancelled their reservations after they heard what happened." He said. Frank and Tyler continued to talk. Tyler told Frank all the rumors that were going around and then as he was leaving, he told him that he would introduce Frank to his girlfriend at the meeting. Frank talked to a couple other people while working out but no one seemed overly suspicious. He walked over to Joe lokking at his watch. They decided that they would get a shower and then go meet Nancy and Bess for the meeting. They had been at the gym for longer than they thought. They headed toward the locker rooms, grabbed a shower then they got dressed and started towards the convention hall. They were talking about the men they had talked to today.

"Most people that I met didn't seem that suspicious. They just seemed a little freaked out, this guy named tyler didn't even really seem to care." Frank told Joe.

"Most of the people i met seemed pretty okay too. Except this one guy. He seemed nervous and he denied even knowing about the murder, he seem. . . " Joe trailed off looking around. Frank asked him what was worng and he said that he thought someone was watching. He turned around and saw a man run around the corner. "Over there!" Joe said pointing as he sarted running after the man. By the time they got around the corner, the man was already gone. "Man! I could have sworn that man was watching us."

"Maybe your losing your touch bro. I didn't see anyone." Frank commented. Joe responded by shooting an icy glare at him. Frank just rolled his eyes as they walked the rest of the way to the convention hall. They walked in and looked around to see if Nancy and Bess were there. Joe spotted them and nudged Frank.

"Hey Frank. It looks like someone is trying to put the moves on Nancy." Frank turned to look to where Joe was looking. He saw Tyler standing by Nancy and obviously flirting with her. Frank walked over to Nancy and Bess's table. "Hey Nan." Frank said, then kissed her on the lips. Frank looked at Tyler and said, "Oh hello. I didn't see you there."

Tyler flushed a deep embarrassed red and said, "Oh is this your girlfriend you were telling me so much about?" Tyler asked.

"Wait you guys know each other?" Nancy questioned. Frank looked at her and answered her question first.

"Yes, we met earlier while I was at the gym." then he looked at Tyler and said, "Yes this is my girlfriend Nancy. Wheres your girlfriend?"

"Um. . . she's around here somewhere. I guess I'll go find her. Bye."

"Bye." Frank sat down next to Nancy and took her hand. Then the meeting began.

* * *

The meeting wasn't very eventful. There was a video on all the activities and there were sign up sheets where you could sign up. They talked to a few more people and Nancy told Frank about the boat trip. It was Decided that Nancy and Frank would follow the Fregans on the boat and that Bess and Joe would follow the Cornets-the man that joe had met earlier and his wife- on the beach side story activity. After the meeting they all went to dinner at a McDonalds. They exchanges notes on who they all talked to and who seem suspicous. Then they went back to the hotel and went to their seperate rooms.

"Wow Nancy. Its seems lots of guys at this place like us. We have our boyfriends, that guy at the spa, that Tyler guy and i think that the cute waiter was hitting on me." Bess exclaimed. "We probably the most sought after girls here!"

Nancy laughed at her friend then yawned. She was exausted from the day. She put her pajamas on and went to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not Own Nancy Drew. **

**

* * *

**

"What am I going to wear???" Bess exclaimed. She and Nancy were getting ready to go to the activities, it was three o' clock and Bess was still picking out an outfit. Nancy on the other hand was already packed for the overnight boat trip with Frank. She had packed a green dress and heels for the evening dinner and dance. She also packed a pair of pajamas, shorts, two tee-shirts and a pair of capri's.

"Um. . . well, here a wild thought. Since your going to the beach, why don't you wear a bathing suit, and just put a tee-shirt and shorts over it?" Nancy replied.

"Yeah I guess." Bess said. "Or maybe I-"

"Bess I have to go catch my boat soon, so pick, the guys are waiting for us."

"Okay, okay." Bess got dresses in a pink bakini and a tee-shirt and jeans. Then they left their room and went to meet Joe and Frank who were waiting by the stairs.

"Hey Nan." Joe said. "Hey Bess. Did you guys know that the Brigs were only in their early twenties?"

"Um no." Bess replied.

"Come on Nancy, we have to catch the boat. I'll fill you in on what me and joe found out when we get there." Frank grabbed her hand and they ran out the door.

"Well that was a plesent goodbye." Joe said sarcasticly.

"So what did you and Frank find out?" Bess inquired.

"Oh we found out that Missy and her husband were really young. Miss just turned twenty and her husband craig was only twenty-three. We also found that Missy had been engaged before, but she broke it off a week before the wedding." Joe answered.

"Really?! Did you find out who the guy was?"

"Yeah, apperently his name was Tom Zane. She never heard from him after that but she did try to get a hold of him." Joe told her.

"Wow." They had reached the beach and a they had to stop talking because of the people. Joe started looking around for the man that he saw. After a few minutes he still hadn't spotted him. Bess and him spread out a beach blanket and laid down. They still had plenty of time because the stories didn't start til it got dark.

They started talking about the case quietly. Joe told her more about the suspects. After a minute Joe said, "Hey look there he is!" Bess looked over and saw a man dressed in brightly colored swim shorts and a dark tee-shirt. "Let's go check out him and that girl hes talking to."

* * *

"Jeeze Frank we didn't have to run." Nancy said as they reached the boat dock. 

"I know but the faster we are the faster that we get to check out that old man and find out if he's the killer." Frank told her. "Plus I had about five cups of coffee this morning and I needed to run some of it off." Nancy laughed when he told her this.

"So what was Joe talking about at the hotel?" Nancy asked.

"Oh we found out some more stuff about the Briggs." He told her what all he and Joe had found out.

"Wow, well thats new. . . do you think that her ex-boyfriend is here?" Nancy asked.

"Well you know that I don't believe in coincidences and I don't necessarily think that this is one, but I haven't seen anyone that seems like the type to kill someone that they are supposedly in love with." Frank answered.

"Yes but usually when you think of someone like that you think of them as single. . . and this is a couples resort, so he probably wouldn't be alone so that he would blend in better." Nancy told him. They walked onto the boat when it came up to the dock. They went up to a man who was handing out room assignments. They got there key and went to their cabin.

"You have a good point Nance. I'll pull down the fold up bed and you can have the actual one." He went to the wall and pulled down the top bunk attached to it. Nancy put her duffle bag down on the bed. Frank threw his stuff down as Nancy laid on the bed.

"Come on. We have to go do the boat activities." Frank told Nancy.

"But they sound so boring! I'd much rather be working on this mystery than playing shuffle board on the boat."

"But to work on the case we have to get to know these people better. We need to get the Fregans alone to see if they say anything about the case." Frank took her hand. "Come on."

"I'm coming." Nancy said.

"Come on Frank, Lets dance." Nancy pulled him onto the dance floor. They were dancing and aslo watching the Fregans at the same time. "I don't think that they are going to do anything tonight." She told Frank.

"Maybe, maybe not." Frank said. She looked up and saw him look in her eye then moved his eye to where the Fregans were sitting. Or at least where they had been. When she looked up they were gone.

"Where did they go. Did you see them leave?"She inquired.

"Yeah, they went this way. Follow me." Frank led her to the stairs heading to the lower deck. They heard voices and followed them.

"What if some one finds out John? What are we going to do then?" They heard Mrs. Fregan say.

"No ones going to find out. We'll be fine. Now quit worrying, and quit thinking that everyone is after us." Mr. Fregan said.

"But they have been every where that we have. You met that girl and then we saw her and her friends at the shop. Nancy and that blonde girl were at the spa when I was and now her and Frank are on the boat." Nancy looked at Frank and her eyes widend.

"Come on. Lets go back up to the deck and dance. This is supposed to be a romantic night for us." As he was talking they had started walking back toward Nancy and Frank. They looked for a place to hide and Nancy pointed to a Janitors closet. They hurried in as the Fregans started to turn the corner.

It was a small closet filled with mops, brooms, buckets and other various cleaning supplies. They were cramped close together and they still heard the Fregans talking as they walked past. Frank tried to move so that he was not stepping on Nancy's foot and knocked over a broom. It thuded as it hit the wall and both of their faces filled with concern as they heard Mr. Fregan say "What was that?"

They heard footsteps come toward the door. They were about to be caught!


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not Own Nancy Drew. **

**

* * *

**The footsteps came closer to the door and Nancy started to panic. She and Frank were trapped in a closet, where they had been eaves dropping on possible murderers, and foots steps were coming toward the only exit. She looked up thinking that maybe there was an air duct or something that they could crawl out of but no such luck. She looked over at Frank who looked like he was trying to think of a plan.

"What are we gonna do?" Nancy whispered. Frank looked at her like he was unsure. Then he heard the footsteps right outside the door. He turned toward her and took her face in his hands. "What are you--"

He pressed his lips to hers cutting her off. Her heart started racing as he kissed her, his lips felt warm and soft on hers. She put her arms around his neck and got closer to him. He pushed her against the wall and his hand moved to her back. Then the door opened.

"What are you doing?" They heard Mrs. Fregan gasp. For a minute Nancy just stood there letting Franks lips linger on her's. Then he moved away and she blushed. To her surprise Mr. Fregan started laughing.

"Why Stacy, what does it look like there doing? Come on, lets let this young couple continue. . . lets go back up to the deck." he said.

"Hold on John, why are you kids down here. Were you spying on us?" Mrs. Fregan asked.

"Stacy this is hardly necessary," Mr.Fregan said.

"Well, um. . . " It was clear that Frank hadn't thoughten past the kissing.

"Oh Frank, don't be so embarrassed." Nancy looked at Mrs. Fregan, who was glaring at her. "Actually the reason were down here is really silly. . . see Frank here loves movies and um, he's always wanted to do that thing were people are kissing in a janitors closet and get caught, and this was the closest we could find."

Mr. Fregan was starting to look a little suspicious too. "Well, come on Stacy." This time she left quietly.

Frank turned around and looked at Nancy. "I wanted to kiss in a janitors closet?" he asked her angrily.

"Well it was better than what you were coming with." She told him. Then she turned around and walked up the stairs and straight to their room.

After a while Frank came up to the room. "Look Nancy I'm sorry that I got angry. Its just that. . . I don't know. I feel like were not getting anywhere on this case. . . .and I'm mad because we almost got caught and. . ." his voice trailed off.

"I understand Frank," Nancy said, getting up and walking over to sit on the couch. She put her hand on his. "We won't let this murderer get away with anything."

He looked at her face. Her eyes were soft with worry as she looked at him. "Yeah I know." They sat there looking at each other and slowly Frank moved toward Nancy. She closed her eyes and waited for his lips to hit hers. She knew that she wasn't thinking, that she should be thinking about Ned waiting for her at home.

Their lips had just brushed against each other, when the door opened and an older lady walked in with fresh towels in hand. She saw them sitting there and then apologized.

"Oh its okay." Nancy assured her. "We should get back to the deck." She smiled at the lady then took Franks hand. They walked back up to the deck together. They didn't say much the rest of the night.

* * *

"Go talk to him Bess." Joe said. The were arguing about who would go talk to there suspect, Kenny Cornet. 

"He's your stupid suspect! Why don't you go talk to him!" She whispered. They were standing behind a shack while Kenny was arguing with someone who looked like his wife. They were close enough to see him, but they couldn't hear.

"Because your you! Now go flirt with him!" Joe told her.

Bess glared at Joe as she blushed. "Joe I'm not going to flirt with him. He is married!!!" They had been facing each other and when Joe turned around, Kenny was gone.

"Oh, Well that's just great!!! Well I guess we can't talk to him Now!!!" Joe yelled.

"Don't yell at me! If you would have just went and talked to him, instead of--"

"Bess! Shhh! There he is!" Joe interrupted her. Now he was talking to a man and looking around nervously. After a few minutes he walked away from the man and went down an alley. "Come on." Joe said.

They followed down the alley that he had went through, staying a safe distance behind him. He went down a maze of alleys and they almost lost him as they turned into the crowded main street. They walked farther and farther in to town. Then the people started thinning out as they headed toward a bunch of warehouses.

"Where is this guy going?" Bess whispered. Apparently she wasn't quite enough because Joe and Bess had to dive behind a dumpster as he turned around. He looked around for a second with a wild look in his eyes, but as he was assured that no one was following him, his look calmed.

He turned around and started walking again. This time he walked toward one of the warehouses. Joe motioned for Bess to stay behind him as he went in.

The room was dark. It looked like a storage place, there were boxes and old couches and other furniture every where. Joe went further into the warehouse and Bess stayed by the door.

As he walked by a particularly tall pile of boxes, the cornet man jumped out and hit him with a gun. Joe crumpled as pain shot through his head.

"Ha! I knew I wasn't crazy! I knew someone was following me!" He yelled. "Who are you!?! What do you want!?!" He kept yelling at Joe. He said he wasn't crazy but both Bess and Joe weren't to sure. Joe was starting to get up and Mr. Cornet pointed a the gun at his head. "Don't Move!" he shouted.

Joe froze. He wasn't as scared as he would have been if he hadn't seen Bess coming up behind Cornet with a lamp raised over her head. When she got close enough she hit him, breaking the lamp on his head. He fell to the ground dropping the gun a few feet away from him.

Bess scrambled after it but Cornet grabbed her ankle as she passed, making her fall. He lifted himself to where he could crawl and then started toward the gun. Joe picked up a broom hitting him hard on the back of the head. Cornet stopped where he was and collapsed. Both Bess and Joe watched him and he didn't move.

Joe eventually moved toward him and bent down to check his pulse.

"Joe? Is he dead?"


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not Own Nancy Drew. **

**

* * *

**"Is he dead Joe?" 

Joe took a deep breath. "No." Then he got up and walked over to where the gun was and picked it up. Then he walked over to some old furniture. When he started pulling a wooden, dining room chair away from the rest, Bess asked, "What are you doing?"

"Look through those boxes and see if theres anything that we can tie him up with." Joe told her.

Bess started looking around and she asked, "Why?"

"Why?! He was gonna shoot us! Hes carrying around a gun, completely edgy and hes totally suspicious!" Joe yelled.

"But you have the gun now!" Bess said.

"Yeah but what if he wakes up and we find out the hard way that hes a kung fu champion!"

Bess rolled her eyes and kept looking. After about three boxes she held something up. "Will this work?" She held up a thick red velvet strap. "There are more in here."

"What is it?" Joe grunted. He was pulling cornets body up onto the chair as he asked.

"I think its the think that you tie curtains back with. Theres a big one to tie around his shoulders and a couple little ones to tie up his hands and feet." She told him.

"Great. Now lets get him tied up before he wakes up." Bess held cornet back in the chair while Joe tied him up.

Half an hour later, Cornet woke up. "Who are you?! Where am I?" he yelled.

"You are in the building that we followed you to, and we are the people that you tried to shoot!" Joe said.

Cornet eyed him suspiciously. "Why were you following me?" he asked, quieter now.

Joe's eyes narrowed. "Why were you acting suspicious? Why were you carrying a gun?"

Kenny Cornet started intently at Joe, as if trying to think of something. Then his face cleared and he looked back between Bess and Joe. "Hey! I know where I've seen you before! You two are at the resort! What are you? Like miniature detectives?" he laughed.

Joe ground his teeth, "Thats right and we think we just caught a killer."

Mr. Cornets face paled. "You can't think that I killed that young girl?"

"See thats the problem, we can, and we do, and we're pretty sure that the police will see it our way too." Joe told him.

There was a look of pure panic on his face, but after a minute it cleared a little. "Your bluffing, theres no phone service in here."

"Well that would be a problem if there was just one of us, but oh look," he said sarcastically, "I can stay here with you and she can go call the cops." Joe said, pointing toward Bess. He turned around and pulled out his cell phone and tossed it to Bess. "Go call."

Bess caught the phone and started walking toward the door when Cornet yelled. "Stop! I didn't do it! I swear!"

Bess stopped and turned to look at him. Joe's eyes narrowed. "If you didn't do it, who did?" He asked.

"I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone." Mr. Cornet said, looking down.

Bess walked over and bent down by the chair. "Why not?" she asked.

Cornet looked Bess, then Joe in the eye. "Because if I do, they'll kill me."

Joe's eyes widened, that wasn't something that he had suspected. "At least I can't tell you now, but meet me tomorrow night at 7:30 on the board walk and I'll tell you everything."

"Okay." Joe said. "We'll meet you tomorrow night at the surf board shop on the boardwalk." He kept the gun in his hand and looked at Bess, who was staring at him incredulously. "Untie him. Legs first, then hands, then the one around his sholders." When she hesitated, he gave her a reasuring look, then want over and whispered in her ear. "It'll be okay. I've got a plan." She looked him in the eye then nodded and untied Cornet.

With his finger on the trigger, Joe watched Cornet leave. When he was out of the building, bess turned to Joe. "What the heck was that? How could you just let him go?!"

Relax Bess! While he was out cold, I put a small tracking divice in his shoe, so we can keep track of him."

"Oh," Bess's anger deflated. "What if he changes shoes?"

"Bess, I've been keeping tabs on this guy for two days and I've never seen him in different shoes." Then he took her by the elbow and led her out of the warehouse. "Lets go back to the resort. We'll call Nancy and Frank later and fill them in."

* * *

Frank got a call while eating dissert. He got his cellphone out of his pocket, looked at the collar ID, then answered it. "Hey Joe." HE said, looking at Nancy. He motioned for her to come with him. He led her down the stairs to there room. 

"Okay. Whats up?" He inquired. He paused and lestened for a long time. "What!" He finally said. "You knocked him out, tied him up, then let him go?" Frank practicly shouted.

"What happened?" Nancy asked. Frank held his hand up, signalling for her to wait a moment.

"I still can't beleive that you did that Joe, he had a gun! Even if you weren't thinking about yourself, whar about Bess?" Frank asked.

Nancy waved her hands around and mouthed, 'What?!', but Frank just waved her off. "Yes, we'll meet you back at the hotel as soon as we get off the shop tomorrow. . . yeah. . . okay. . . yeah, bye." Then Frank hung up.

"What happened?" Nancy yelled, jumping up from her seat on the bed. Frank retold the story that Joe had told him. "Wha--but---I---are they okay?"

Frank went and sat her back down on the bed, sitting next to her, seeing the look of panic on her face. He brushed some hair away from her face, and took her hand. "There fine. Calm down."

She looked releived. "So whats happening tomorrow night?"

"Oh, we're all going to meet Cornet. He says he has some information and he'll tell us tomorrow night at the boardwalk." Frank told her.

"Does Joe really think that he knows anything?"

"Hes not sure. He said that he saw something in his eyes." He looked at her and sighed. "Do you want to go back up to the deck?"

She shook her head. "No I want to stay here. . . and talk."

"What do you want to talk about?" Frank asked, though he already knew.

"I want to talk about earlier, when we kissed, and then when we almost kissed." She took a deep breath. "Why did you kiss me in that closet?"

"Nancy, we were about to be caught evesdropping on possible murderers and it was all I could think of at the time."

"Is that the only reason?" Nancy asked quietly while looking at the floor.

Frank gor up and started pacing. "Nancy why are we having this conversation, you know I have feelings for you! And don't you have feelings for me?!" He looked at her when she didn't answer. He walked over and nelt down in front of her. "Nancy I need to know. If you don't I'll back off, it you do. . . " he didn't finish.

"Yes. . . I have feelings for you, but that doesn't change how things are. Your with Callie and I'm with Ned."

"Yeah but do you want to be? You said that Ned has been acting strange lately, That you feel weird around him sometimes."

Nancy didn't object, she just looked at him. "What about you and Callie? You can't just forget her."

"Half the time, I thnk me and Callie are only together, because people expect us to be. She doesn't understand things about me, especially involving mysteries, like you do. There are things I can't tell her that I can tell you." Nancy's face looked undecisive. "You don't have to say anything now Nancy. Just promise me that you think about it." Frank said taking her hand.

She put her free hand on his face and smiled weakly. "I will. I promise."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Okay, so what are we gonna do?" Joe said, thinking aloud. Joe, Frank, Nancy and Bess were sitting in the girls hotel room, thinking up a plan for the meeting that night.

"Well, lets look at what we know so far. Maybe if we look at the facts we can figure out something important, or at least think up some kind of plan." Nancy told them.

Frank nodded. "Okay, so what do we know?"

"Well we know that the guy, Kenny Cornet, had been acting creepy and suspicious. He could be the murderer." Joe said.

"Yeah but he said that he was being threatened. If you thought that someone was going to try and kill you, you would be edgy too."

"Bess." Joe sighed. "He could very possibly be lying. Murderers do that when they think that there about to be caught. And for all we know, the meeting tonight could be a trap to get rid of us because we know to much."

"Well he seemed sincere." Bess told him.

"Okay. So we know that we cannot trust this guy." Nancy interrupted them. "I think that someone should stay behind, so they know where we are. Or someone could stay out of sight and watch to make sure that no one tries to sneak up on us and whack us in the head with a baseball bat or something. That'll work since he doesn't know theres four of us."

"I agree with Nancy. But the question isn't if someone should stay behind, its who." Frank said. "I definitely think that Joe should be one of the people to go to the meeting and talk to Cornet. Since they've already met."

Joe agreed. "I think that Bess should stay at the hotel. It would be safer if she stays here. Cornet might expect something since shes not there, but that might give him another reason not to try anything funny. Nancy should probably be the one to stay in the shadows, that way if Cornet tries anything, me and Frank have the muscle to stop it while Nancy calls the Police."

"I think thats whats best too. Bess, the meeting starts at 7:30. He is supposed to tell us everything that he knows, so it could take a while. If we are not back by ten, its probably safe to say that something has happened, and then you need to call the police. Tell them about being undercover and the meeting so they can come as fast as possible. Unless we call and tell you not to." Nancy told her.

"Okay. I can do that." Bess said nervously. Nancy smiled at her.

"Don't worry Bess. You'll do fine." Nancy told her.

Bess took a deep breath. "So what time are you meeting him?"

Frank looked at his watch. "We're going to meet him at seven thirty. Its five right now so we still have a while to think. What else do we know about the case?"

"Well we know that the Fregans are hiding something." Nancy said. "The conversation that we heard seemed pretty suspicious, like they were afraid of getting caught."

"Yeah, but we were afraid of getting caught to. We could have misunderstood." Frank told her.

"Maybe but I don't think that we did. What if there the murderers?" Nancy asked. "They could try something while were gone. They know where we're staying and if Cornet is working with or for them, they could try and break into the room while were gone and surprise us."

"Bess maybe you shouldn't stay in the room. You would be safer in a crowd so stay in one of the cafès." Frank told her. "But I think that we should just go to the meeting. We don't have to worry about anything being stolen, we can ask Mr. Bristen to put our important things in his office. And hopefully by the end of the meeting with Cornet we'll know who the killer is."

"Frank's right, now what do we know about the victims?" Joe asked.

"We know that they were young newly weds. And that Missy Briggs had a stalkerish ex-boyfriend." Nancy said. "Hey are you guys sure that there is no way to figure out who that was?"

"I tried to get Mr. Bristen to tell us the guys name but he wouldn't." Joe said. "And I highly doubt that the restraining order would be on the Internet. Why does it matter anyway? I thought we thought we already had our murderer."

"I don't know, I just have a weird feeling about it." Nancy told them. "Couldn't you try again?"

"If he didn't tell us last time why would this be different?" Frank asked.

"You guys should be able to come up with something. You've stopped killers before but you can't get a man to tell you the name of his sisters ex?" Bess asked.

"Well, if you put it that way, then we have to try." Joe said. Frank just rolled his eyes. They left the room and Bess looked at Nancy.

"Do you really think that this boyfriend lead will take you anywhere, you already have a compelling case against the Fregans and Cornet and having them as the killer makes more since."

"But I feel like we're missing part of the puzzle and I'm having trouble figuring out the motives," Nancy told her. "Something feels weird about this case. I feel like the guys are just trying to catch Cornet whether he is the killer or not."

Bess sighed. "Are you sure your not just feeling strange being here with Frank. You and him have been acting strange around each other today."

"Oh Bess!" Nancy flopped down on the bed and buried her face in a pillow. "He kissed me." She mumbled.

"Was that English? Because if it was, I didn't catch any of it." Bess said sarcastically.

Nancy sat up, glared at Bess, then looked depressed again. "I said that he kissed me."

"Yeah." Bess sat there waiting. "Wait, that's it? Thats why your so freaked out?"

"Well, yes. Do I need another reason?"

"No, but don't you think that your over reacting a bit?"

"Bess, a guy who is not my boyfriend kissed me, and then told me that he had feelings for me, and I may or may not have feelings for him too. How is that not bad?"

Rolling her eyes, Bess said. "Of course you have feelings for him." Bess was quiet for a moment. "Bright side. If you get killed tonight, you don't have to worry about it!"

Nancy laughed, "Killed by murdering creep, talk about my feelings with Frank. Can't decide which sounds better."

Bess was laughing at her joke when Joe and Frank came in. "Now how come we're doing all the work and your sitting here telling jokes?" Joe asked.

"What did you find out?" Nancy asked, ignoring the question.

"Not much. Just background info on the victims. Mr. Bristen gave us some of the stuff we asked for. Credit reports and Bank statements, stuff like that. He also told me that they knew each other at Brooksvile High, thats where he thinks that Missy met the stalker boyfriend." Frank told her.

Nancy picked up Missy's credit report. "Well this doesn't look to bad. Looks like she really didn't use her credit card much, and when she did she always paid it off quickly. Nothing really big." She turned to the second page. "Or at least she didn't until recently." Nancy kept looking. "Wow it looks like she had two of her cards maxed out, and had a big debt on another one and she just paid her debt not to long ago and it was four months late."

"Wow." Bess picked Craig's report. "He has a large debt too. One of his credit cards are maxed, and he had debts on two others." She closed the papers. " It was paid at the same time as Missy's."

"Well that would be a good motive for the Fregans. He said Mr. Bristen owed him the money his sister borrowed and that it was a lot.

Frank sighed. "We can't follow the Fregans tonight." He thought for a moment. "How about this. Tonight we'll go to the meeting as planned, b--"

"How would that help if the Fregans are the murderers?" Bess questioned, cutting him off.

"Let him finish Bess, geez" Joe told her. Bess rolled her eyes at him as he said, "Continue" to Frank.

"Like I said. We go to the meeting tonight as planned. We need the information that Cornet has, he is either lying and is the killer, or he knows who the killer is. Before we go though, we'll ask Mr. Bristen what the Fregans are doing tonight and tell him to keep an eye on them. That way if they do anything suspicious, Bristen can call us."

"I'll call him." Nancy announced, getting up and walking toward the room phone. She punched in the number for the front desk and wanted.

"Hello. This is Allison at the Front Desk." Allison said.

"Hello. This is Nancy Drew, I'd like to speak with Mr. Bristen."

"One moment please." Hold music came on. After a moment the music stopped and Mr. Bristen answered.

"Hello Miss Drew. What can I do for you?" he sighed.

"In's Sorry for bothering you. We just wanted to know if you could tell us what the Fregans are doing tonight?" Nancy asked.

"Is this about the case?"

"Yes sir."

"Give me a moment and I'll check." The hold music came back on for a few minutes.

"What did he say?" Fran asked.

"I'm on hold...I'll tell you in a minute." Nancy replied.

Mr. Bristen came on. "Yes Nancy they're getting ready to go on out beach side tour, that starts at Seven. Why?"

"Really? Well Mr. Bristen, we were wondering if you could keep an eye on them. . . By the way, does that tour go past the Boardwalk?"

"Why yes it does. How did you know? They actually stop at the boardwalk to do some shopping." Mr. Bristen told her.

"Thank you for telling me. We were also wondering if you could have someone keep and eye on them at all times, and if they see them do anything suspicious, tell them to call either me, Frank or Joe. Okay?"

"Yes Miss Drew. I will have someone keep and eye on them. Is that all?" He asked.

"Yes. Goodbye, Mr. Bristen."

"Goodbye." Nancy hung up the phone.

"So whats happening?" Joe asked Nancy.

"The Fregans will be at the board walk."


End file.
